Hinge structure for electronic apparatus

ABSTRACT

A hinge structure for electronic apparatus such as a word processor, a personal computer and the like having a cover is provided. The hinge structure can meet the demand for making an electronic apparatus thin and light in weight and also can reduce the manufacturing cost of the equipment. The cover can rotate about a hinge  14  with respect to the main body of the equipment and can be maintained at a desired angular position. The hinge comprises a bush  51,  a first hinge section  14   a  and second hinge sections  14   b  and  14   c.  The bush  51  comprises a first rotary section  52  and a second rotary section  53  which is rotatably coupled to the first rotary section. When the second rotary section is rotated about the shaft  52   a  of the first rotary section, a frictional force generates between a concave portion  54  of the second rotary section. The first hinge section is provided at one end of the main body of the electronic apparatus to fix the first rotary section while the second hinge section is provided at one end of the cover to fix the second rotary section.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional Application of copending applicationSer. No. 09/444,167, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,248 filed Nov. 22, 1999,which is a continuation of Ser. No. 09/088,614, now U.S. Pat. No.6,076,232 filed Jun. 1, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a hinge structure for an electronicapparatus such as a laptop type personal computer, a word-processor, andthe like.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of one of a pair of hinges of a conventionalinformation processing system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentPublication (JP-A) No. 237315 of 1992. The pair of hinges of thisinformation processor causes a cover having a liquid crystal display(LCD) disposed therein to be rotatably supported on a main body casinghaving a keyboard, CPU and etc. disposed therein.

In FIG. 1, a bush 2 made of a material having a comparatively largecoefficient of friction is fitted in a central shaft 1 which supportsthe cover (not shown) and which is strong enough to withstand a torqueapplied thereon. Further, the bush 2 is covered by a cylindrical housing3. A rotary support 4 is formed integral with the cover and is providedwith a hinge receiving bore 5 at one end thereof. The housing 3 isreceived within the hinge receiving bore 5. A flat portion la formed atthe top end of the central shaft 1 is inserted into, and supported by, ahole 9 of a hinge metal 8 fixed to the main body casing 6 by means of ascrew 7. A rib 10 formed on the main body casing 6 supports the rotarysupport 4.

In case of this information processing system, the operator may open andclose the cover about a hinge so as to optionally adjust the angle oforientation of the cover while he looks at the screen of the liquidcrystal display disposed within the cover.

A first drawback of the above-described conventional hinge structureresides in that in order to prevent the deformation of the hinge metal 8for fixing the bush 2, it is necessary for the hinge metal 8 to have asufficient size and thickness to satisfy the rigidity thereof.Accordingly, it is difficult to make the information processing systemcompact, thin and light in weight for the sake of portability.

A second drawback of the above-described conventional hinge structureresides in that the hinge metal 8 and the screw 7 must be used forpreventing the rotation of the bush 2 and for fixing the bush 2.Consequently, the cost of parts such as the hinge metal 8 and the screw7 and the cost of assembling these parts are needed to thereby increasethe manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a hinge structure foran electronic apparatus which structure is capable of making theelectronic apparatus compact, thin and light in weight.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hinge structurefor electronic apparatus which structure is capable of reducing themanufacturing cost of the electronic apparatus.

According to the present invention, there is provided a hinge structurefor an electronic apparatus which structure is capable of rotatablysupporting the cover of the electronic apparatus at a desired angle andwhich comprises a bush including a first rotary section and a secondrotary section rotatably connected to the first rotary section so as tokeep the cover at the abovementioned desired angle by a predeterminedtorque, a first hinge section provided at one end of the body of theelectronic apparatus and adapted to fix one of the first rotary sectionand the second rotary section and a second hinge section provided at oneend of the cover and adapted to fix the remaining one of the first andsecond rotary sections.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a hinge structure of aconventional information processor;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an electronic apparatus according to oneembodiment of the present invention especially in a state in which theelectronic apparatus has its cover opened;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an essential portion of theelectronic apparatus shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the A—A line of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A hinge structure of an electronic apparatus according to the embodimentof the present invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electronic apparatus according toone embodiment of the present invention especially in a state in which acover of the apparatus is opened, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective viewof an essential portion of the electronic apparatus and FIG. 4 is asectional view taken along the A—A line of FIG. 2.

In FIG. 2, the electronic apparatus 11 comprises a main body 13 providedwith a display section 12 such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and acover 15 connected to one end of the main body 13 through a hinge 14 andcapable of rotation about the hinge 14 as a fulcrum.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cover 15 comprises an upper casing 15 a and alower casing 15 b which are placed one above another and is electricallyconnected to the main body 13 of the electronic apparatus. Further,within the cover 15, there are disposed a printed wiring board whichmounts various kinds of parts therein and the like (in FIG. 3, suchprinted wiring board and electrical connecting structure of parts areomitted).

A hinge section 14 a (a first hinge section) formed integral with oneend of the upper surface of the main body 13 and forming part of a hinge14 comprises a cylindrical convex element 21 shown at the left side, anda cylindrical concave member 22 shown at the right side, in FIG. 3.Further, between the convex element 21 and the concave element 22 thereis arranged a cylindrical element 23 serving as a spacer when secondhinge-sections 14 b and 14 c (to be described later) are fixed to thefirst hinge section 14 a. The convex element 21 has a projection 21 a atthe center of an inner end surface thereof and the concave element 22has a concave portion 22 a at the center of the inner end surfacethereof with the portion 22 a having a groove 22 b at the bottomthereof.

On the other hand, the hinge section (a second hinge section) 14 bformed integral with one end of the lower casing 15 b and forming partof the hinge 14 comprises a semi-cylindrical concave element 31 shown atthe left side, and a cylindrical member 32 shown at the right side, inFIG. 3. The concave element 31 is provided with a hole 31 a which fitswith the convex portion 21 a of the convex member 21. The cylindricalmember 32 includes an inner semi-cylindrical portion and an outercylindrical portion of the same length and the outer cylindrical portionis provided with a hole 32 b having grooves 32 c and 32 d along the axisthereof.

Further, the hinge section (a second hinge section) 14 c formed integralwith one end of the upper casing 15 a and forming part of the hinge 14comprises a semi-cylindrical concave member 41 shown at the left side,and a semi-circular concave portion 42 shown at the right side, in FIG.3. At the central portion of the concave element 41, there is formed ascrew-threaded hole 41 a and outside the concave element 42, there isprovided a disk-shaped support plate 42 a. Further, the concave element41 and the concave element 31 are fixed together by means of a screw 43.

A bush 51 comprises a first rotary section 52 and a second rotarysection 53 rotatably connected to the first rotary section 52 capable ofbeing retained at a desired angle due to a predetermined torque. Thefirst rotary section 52 has a concentric shaft 52 a on one of its endsurfaces and a convex portion 52 b of a large width on the other endsurface thereof. Further, the second rotary section 53 has in thecylindrical portion thereof a concave portion 54 to fit with theconcentric shaft 52 a and a pair of convex portions (projections) 53 aand 53 b are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second rotarysection 53 in symmetrical relationship with each other.

In the case of the above-described hinge structure, the convex portion21 a of the convex element 21 of the main body 13 of the apparatus ismounted in the hole 31 a of the concave element 31, then the right-sidehole 32 b of the cylindrical element 32 is caused to coincide with thecircular entrance of the concave element 22 and in this condition, thebush 51 is pressure-fitted into the 32 b from on the left side. In thiscase, the convex portions 53 a and 53 b are made to coincide with thegrooves 32 c and 32 d, respectively, so that the second rotary section53 of the bush 51 forming the convex portions 53 a and 53 b is heldfixed to the lower casing 15 b without getting rotated and at the sametime, the first rotary section 52 of the bush 51 is firmly fixed to themain body 13 of the apparatus.

After the above process, the concave element 31 of the lower casing 15 bis caused to fit with the convex element 21 of the main body 13 of theapparatus and then the upper casing 15 a and the lower casing 15 b areconnected together with the screw 43 or by means of a snap-fit structure(not shown). In this case, since the bush 51 is prevented from moving inthe horizontal direction by the support plate 42 a, it is arranged atits predetermined position.

Further, when the second rotary section 53 is rotated about the shaft 52a of the first rotary section 52, the concave portion 54 of the secondrotary section 53 comes into frictional contact with the shaft 52 a.Accordingly, the second rotary section 53 can rotate to a desiredangular position with respect to the first rotary section 52 due to apredetermined torque.

Further, since the convex portion 52 b of the bush 51 is fixed to thegroove 22 b of the concave element 22, the first rotary section 52 isfixed to the main body 13 of the apparatus. At the same time, the convexportions 53 a and 53 b of the bush 51 are fixed to the grooves 32 c and32 d of the cylindrical element 32, respectively, and the second rotarysection 53 is fixed to the cover 15 while it is prevented from moving inthe horizontal direction by the support plate 42 a.

In FIGS. 2 and 4, when the cover 15 is opened and closed, the secondrotary section 53 of the bush 51 within the hinge 14 rotates with theopening and closing of the cover 15 but since the first rotary section52 is fixed to the main body 13 of the apparatus, a predeterminedfrictional force generates between the second rotary section 53 and thefirst rotary section 52 so that the cover 15 can be opened and closed bya predetermined force and can be maintained at a desired angularposition, which results in improving the expediency for the operator tohandle the apparatus.

The present invention produces the following effects.

1. The hinge metals and screws which have hitherto been used are no morerequired. Accordingly, it is possible to make the target electronicapparatus compact, thin and light in weight. Further, since the cost ofparts such as the hinge metals and screws and the cost of assembling theparts can be saved, the manufacturing cost for fixing the bush can bereduced and as a result, it is possible to provide an electronic productat a low manufacturing cost.

2. Since the first rotary section or the second rotary section of thebush is fixed to the first hinge section or the second hinge section, itis possible to prevent the idle rotation of the bush.

3. Since the support plate for preventing the axial movement of the bushis provided within the concave portion of the first hinge section or inthe hole of the second hinge section, it is possible to arrange the bushsecurely.

What is claimed is:
 1. An assembling process of an electronic apparatushaving a hinge for rotatably connecting a main body to a lower casingand an upper casing of said electronic apparatus, said assemblingprocess comprises: a first step of fitting said lower casing having acylindrical element to a main body having a concave element; a secondstep of inserting of a bush into said cylindrical element and concaveelement; a third step of fitting said upper casing to said lower casingso as to prevent movement of said bush toward the insertion direction;and a fourth step of fixing said upper casing to said lower casing bymeans of a screw.